Paul James will head up new practice focused on Business Intelligence (BI) solutions
This fall Boyer & Associates will debut a new practice area focused on Business Intelligence.
Business Intelligence, or BI, generally refers to the process of analyzing data to make informed business decisions. Specifically, it refers to software that helps businesses compile data from multiple systems into usable reports to make those decisions.
Popular BI software solutions include BI360 (from Solver) and Jet Reports, both of which Boyer & Associates already offers. Having a practice focused on this area of business management software will guarantee dedicated time to such projects.
Heading up the new practice is Paul James, one of Boyer’s Dynamics SL consultants. The transition to a more focused role on reporting solutions seemed natural for James, who has taught the company’s popular Management Reporter classes for several years.
“(BI) makes the business better, helping it run more efficiently.” – Paul James
“That’s all I’ve been doing most of my career is getting data and transforming it into a usable format for managers to make decisions,” James said.
As Boyer’s new BI Practice Leader, James will devote more of his time to helping clients create reports on virtually any aspect of their business.
“It’s basically just getting data out of the ERP system into the hands of the decision makers,” he said. “It’s basically any kind of reporting.”
James said most of the clients he helps use very few reports on a regular basis — not necessarily by choice. Compiling the data necessary for any given report can be difficult and time-consuming, especially if the data is stored in multiple tools or software programs.
For example, if a company wants to run an inventory or sales report, they may need to pull together data from multiple sources that don’t easily communicate. That’s where James can help.
If a client simply wants to put together a few basic reports, James can help them build a workable solution in a matter of hours. Other clients may want to purchase an entire reporting management system. These BI solutions allow the client to store data from multiple software programs together under one warehouse, simplifying the process of compiling data to create reports.
“It makes the business better, helping it run more efficiently … (I like) just being able to turn all that data into something useful,” said James.
His work will not be limited to clients of a Microsoft Dynamics ERP solution, though that’s what Boyer primarily sells. Customers on other software platforms, such as SAP or Sage, can also benefit from a BI tool.
James looks forward to “helping clients make their businesses better by using the data they already have and showing them new ways to look at it.”
James will continue to teach Boyer’s Management Reporter classes, which focus specifically on reports related to financial transactions. He will also do the occasional Dynamics SL consulting work, as time permits.
If you’re interested in improving your company’s data analysis, contact James at 763-412-4336 or pjames@boyerassoc.com.
